Hanoi Airport Transfer
Hanoi is an excellent place to visit. The new capital of Vietnam is modern and has a lot going on which can be quite overwhelming. You might be worried about your Hanoi airport transfer but you really shouldn’t be!
Read below to see, in my opinion, the best way to get from the airport to the centre with little hassle, very little money and a lot of entertainment. Oh, and keep reading if you don’t want to get scammed at Hanoi train station!
Arriving At The Airport
Unlike some other countries in South East Asia, going through passport control in Vietnam is easy. There is no need for an arrival/departure form and you can just stroll through as if it were your own country.
You will get a 15 day stamp on arrival for free. Upon arrival, go straight to passport control. Ignore the visa application desk that is in front of the passport control. Queue up, hand over your passport, give a nice smile and you’ll be in the country in no time.
Collect your bags and head straight out of the main exit. Be prepared to have your first entertaining moment! Depending on the time of day that you land, there should be enough people queuing up in the arrival lounge with signs and big smiles to make you feel like Lady Gaga.
I recall it looking a little like the below:
The Fun Hanoi Airport Transfer Steps
1. Turn left straight out of the exit and keep walking until you get to a sign that says 07 bus
2. Follow that sign to the bus seating area
3. Sit and wait for a full size bus to pull up with the number 7 in red on the side. Ignore the small yellow carts
The journey costs 8,000 dong which is about 25p. Way better than a $20 taxi or 50,000 dong mini bus.
It takes about an hour to get to the bus station. There will be many stops and many locals. One of these nice locals actually gave his seat up for me! Bearing in mind I’m far from a pregnant woman or one of the distinguished elderly (27 year old fit male).
The bus should drop you about 1 mile away from the city centre. You can then get a much cheaper taxi or do what we did and take a walk through the city to explore. It took us about half an hour to walk to St Joseph’s Cathedral – including a necessary stop at a cafe en route.
In conclusion: it was well worth the experience for a lot less money! The bus gets very full and is fun when people pile on and off politely.
There we go, your Hanoi airport transfer is complete and was way cheaper and more fun that just jumping in a taxi. Check out the Hanoi airport transfer guide by Clicking Here. You can ignore the first 2 links and just click on Public Bus – The fun one ;).
Your Bonus Train Scam Tip – A MUST READ
It’s always annoying when somebody takes advantage. Especially when you’ve arrived in a new place and are already confused. Read the below to make sure you don’t get screwed by the Hanoi Train Station.
We encountered this scam whilst booking a train from Hanoi to Hue. This is actually the same train that goes all the way down to Saigon stopping at many places on the way. Read the guide below to learn how to buy tickets without being scammed:
1. Enter the Hanoi train station and turn left.
2. Completely ignore the tourist ticket section on the right – they will massively overcharge you!
3. Go to the proper ticket desk.
That is all! We unknowingly went into the tourist ticket section and were politely greeted and sat down by a seemingly nice woman. We were told that there were only 2 sleeper beds left that weren’t near each other. Opposite sides of the train actually. She called somebody on her mobile which seemed suspicious as the system is all computerised.
We were quoted 2.5 million Dong by her which didn’t quite add up with what we had read online so we nipped over the road for a quick discussion, can of coke and free wifi. We went to the proper desk – number 2 or 3 if you’re going south as we did. It only cost 1.5 million dong! A full 1 million Dong cheaper than the previous quote by a formal employee of the train station in the tourist trap area. This is a saving of around £31 for 2 people! Totally worth it.
The official ticket area was cheaper but does come with a bit of a warning of something we’ve noticed a lot in Vietnam: The locals don’t know how to queue and may shove you out of the way whilst you are mid way through buying your ticket. Once again, very entertaining and worth it!
Enjoy the savings. Oh yeah, and if this is your first time in Vietnam – Enjoy their driving too! It is a very unique style that involves constant beeping to keep everybody aware of the fact that they exist.
Safe travels!
